Marvin Lewis goes, Bengals Coaching Candidates

Mike Brown and the Bengals have started going in the right direction by moving on from Marvin. However, that’s just half of it. Getting rid of Marvin Lewis doesn’t mean anything if they can’t find a good replacement. For the Bengals, finding a great replacement can be challenging. Mike Brown is very difficult to work with. He’s known to very arrogant. He single handily nearly destroyed the Bengals because of how bad of an owner he was (Marvin Lewis saved him and the Bengals). Mike Brown refuses to hire a general manager, he won’t build an indoor training facility and doesn’t like to spend money in free agency. A head coach candidate won’t find that attractive at all. With all of that being said, lets look at some head coach candidates for the Bengals! The Bengals announced that they would interview Hue Jackson, Bill Lazor, and Darrin Simmons. Hue

Hue Jackson- Hue Jackson is generally a horrible head coach candidate. He went 3-36-1 in Cleveland. That should turn off any chance of him being hired. However, Mike Brown loves Hue Jackson and wants him as head coach. However, Bengals fans have made it clear that they will be furious if the organization hires him, and that is enough for Mike Brown to likely not hire him. However, the fact that Mike Brown seriously wants to hire Hue Jackson shows how bad of an owner he is.

Bill Lazor- Bill Lazor is the offensive coordinator for the Bengals. The offense has been pretty bad for them lately. Lazor lacks creativity in his play calling. The organization interviewing him is more of them doing their due diligence. It’s highly unlikely that he gets the gig.

Darrin Simmons- Simmons is the special teams coordinator for the Bengals. He has been with the organization for over 20 years. He has a ton of respect from the staff. If the Bengals do decide to go with somebody in the organization, he(not Hue) is the most likely to get the gig. Just the fact that he has been around the Bengals that long makes him appealing to Mike Brown. However, this would be a questionable hire for the Bengals. He has never been an offensive or defensive coordinator, so that is concerning. If the Bengals did hire him, they would be settling.

Honestly, there is no good choice for the Bengals that are in their organization. Lucky for them, they announced that they were going to interview many candidates. I’m going to talk about the candidates they have announced they will interview!

Vance Joseph- Joseph is coming off being the head coach for the Broncos. He was fired after a poor performance. The Bengals have set up an interview with him, and it’s not that surprising. He was their defensive backs coach before he was the Dolphins defensive coordinator. He shares a lot of the values that Mike Brown has, so that helps his case. However, it doesn’t make sense to hire Joseph. He just failed as a head coach, so letting him be the head coach of a new team right away means he probably hasn’t learned anything. Also, it has been rumored that the Bengals are looking for an offensive coach. Joseph is a defensive coach. I think it’s more likely that he ends up at defensive coordinator.

Zac Taylor- Taylor is the quarterbacks’ coach for the Rams. He is just 35 years old. He doesn’t have much experience in the league. He was the offensive coordinator for the University of Cincinnati in 2016, so he’s familiar with Cincinnati. Sean McVay has spoken very highly of him. Taylor is a risky, but a very intriguing candidate. The lack of experience is a red flag, but him being under McVay and him helping Jared Goff take that next step is a good sign. He is also attracting attention from other teams. Taylor is a wild card candidate that fits the “young offensive minded” stereotype.

Shane Waldron- Waldron is another coach from the Sean McVay coaching tree. He is the tight ends coach and passing coordinator for the Rams. Obviously, the Rams have had a great passing attack. The Bengals are the only one who has contacted Waldron, so he could be a dark horse candidate for the job. He was the intern offensive coordinator for the Dolphins when oddly enough, the Dolphins fired Bill Lazor (Bengals current offensive coordinator) mid-season. Waldron is 39, and based off what we’ve seen since the Rams passing attack, is pretty creative. He is also a bit of a wildcard with the lack of experience, but there seems to be a lot of potential with him.

Josh McDaniels- Bengals put in a request to interview McDaniels (Patriots offensive coordinator), but he has declined to have the interview. So he won’t be the next coach for the Bengals.

Eric Bieniemy- Bieniemy is the Chiefs offensive coordinator, and it’s safe to say the Chiefs offense has been great. Though he doesn’t call plays, that shouldn’t be concerning to any teams who are interested in him. He has a huge role in game planning and player development. Tyreek Hill has talked about how much Bieniemy has helped him grow. Some people consider him to be overrated because this is the year Mahomes broke out and that Reid calls the play. However, Andy Reid has a great coaching tree, and while Reid is a big reason for Mahomes breaking out, Bieniemy helped a ton. If Bieniemy puts a similar offense as the Chiefs in, he could be very successful. It’s also worth noting that he was the Bengals running back from 1995-1998. He fits what the Bengals are looking for, and is likely on the top of their list.

Todd Monken- Monken is the offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers and is a very underrated head coach candidate. The Buccaneers offense was top 5 with Monken calling the plays. That offense only fell off because Dirk Koetter started calling plays in an attempt to save his job. Ryan Fitzmagic said Monken has the “it” factor of a head coach. The Buccaneers had a deadly passing attack with Monken. The Bengals could highly benefit from that. They have some dangerous receiving threats in AJ Green, John Ross, Tyler Boyd, and Tyler Eifert. Monken has really never had a really good running back, so it would be interesting to see what he could do with a guy like Joe Mixon. He should be decently high on the Bengals candidate list.